SULPH.

F/COVER 25/1/2001 4:55 pm Page 1

January February 2001

Number 272

The Magazine for the World Sulphur and Sulphuric Acid Industries

Ensuring uniform heat distribution in sulphur

vapour lines

SULPH.P44-46 16/3/2001 6:04 pm Page 44

SULPHUR PROCESSING

Ensuring uniform heat

distribution in sulphur
vapour lines
Uniform temperature distribution in sulphur pipeline walls can be
achieved by applying heating elements which are strategically positioned using
accurate thermodynamic process modelling software. A well-designed system protects
the process from interruptions caused by corrosion or blockage of the pipeline.
David R. Hornbaker of Controls Southeast, Inc. reports on a typical case in point.

ertain hot process piping services require thermal maintenance devices to keep stream
temperatures within design limits. In
such cases conventional pipe jacketing has been regarded as sufficient
but often too expensive. An alternative to pipe jacketing, tube tracing,
does not effectively prevent problems caused by temperature variations along the process pipe wall.
Frequently, tube tracing is used as an
economical way to try and compensate for heat loss. In low temperature
applications with broad temperature
envelopes, steam tracing can be effective. However, in those applications,
the position of the tracers, and the
temperature distribution in the pipe
material are not considered important. A new system for process temperature maintenance or uniform
pipe wall temperatures, comparable
in price to tube tracing, consists of
contoured, bolt-on trace elements.
These elements are strategically positioned after modelling heat dynamics
in the operating piping system. In
dealing with the actual problems
caused by unwanted heat variation,
frequently the key principle is assuring uniform pipe wall temperature.
To assure uniformity, it is necessary

Sulphur

No 272

to manage the heat distribution in

the pipe wall. Proper management of
heat distribution depends on the
number and placement of heating
elements. This placement in turn
depends on accurate modelling of
process thermodynamics. Therefore,

the heating element vendor should

apply accurate process modelling
software to assure uniform pipe wall
temperature. An example of the
result of this type of modelling is
shown in Figure 1. Heat from steam
at 159C is applied from a contoured

Fig. 1: Calculated pipe wall temperatures for an Alberta-based SRU

30 in. process pipe
4 control trace heating elements
gas=130C

midpoint between
control trace elements

132C

133C

136C
141C
147C
steam=159C
Source: CSI

January . February 2001

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SULPHUR PROCESSING

year lifetime of the original pipe to be

economically unsound, plant management sought to find a better way to
maintain pipe temperature. They
reviewed the experience of similar
plants equipped with ControTrace
systems. In some instances, these systems had been effective in comparable
service for over ten years.
The gas plant operator analysed
the various parameters involved in
heating and cooling the pipe. They
used a proprietary finite-difference
computer model developed by
Controls Southeast, Inc. (CSI), the
manufacturer of the ControTrace system.They created a model for gas flow
through the pipe and generated temperature profiles of the piping system
under various operating conditions.
Conventional trace sizing programs simply deal with the pipe sizes,
temperature, insulation and ambient
conditions. These programs calculate
total heat loss from the pipe and determine the number of heating tracers
needed to replace that amount of heat.
No consideration is given to how the
heat gets distributed to all parts of the
pipe. Adding more heat than is being
lost does not assure that all points on
the pipe will operate above the condensation temperature.

heating element to a pipe wall at

defined intervals. Directly under the
element, the wall temperature is
147C. Note the decrease in wall
temperature as the distance from the
element increases, until a minimum
of 132C is reached.
At this point heat conducted
through the wall from another heating element causes the wall temperature to rise again. The wall temperature varies within a defined range and
the warmest and coolest points can
also be readily identified.
Application of contoured pipe
tracing after thermal analysis prevents
problems of condensation and associated pipe corrosion caused by mixed
vapours in sulphur processing.

Case history:
sulphur recovery
Sulphur recovery units in refineries or
gas plants usually include tail gas or
degas vapour lines. These lines are
commonly heated to prevent the condensation of either sulphur or water.
In most cases, the gas in the line is at
an elevated temperature and can be
assumed to be at or above dew point
temperatures. There are two dew
points, one for water and one for sulphur. It has been common practice to
employ conventional tube tracing (or
in some cases electric tracing) to heat
the line. Despite this practice, condensation and resulting corrosion are
often still a problem. The cause is
uneven or inadequate heating of the
pipe.
A gas plant operator can achieve
more uniform heating of the pipe. It is
necessary to conduct a detailed thermal analysis of the pipe, gas, heating
elements and insulation. Then the
operator installs an innovative bolt-on
temperature management system.
Thermal analysis reveals that the flowing process gas may actually be cooling the pipe wall. Conventional steam
or electric tracings are usually not
heating the pipe uniformly, resulting in
cold spots where condensation occurs.
Condensation can be prevented
by using high-performance bolt-on
steam tracing material, properly distributed around the pipe. This case
describes an installation at a natural
gas plant sulphur degassing unit in
central Alberta, Canada.

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No 272

Fig 2: ControTrace installation.

Steam tracing allows

corrosion
The degas vent piping at the Alberta
plant had been in place for about six
years and had suffered serious corrosion, particularly in and around the
low spots. The original steam tracing
had been done with conventional
5 in. tube tracing employing 500
/8
kPag saturated steam. Vent line sizes
were 20in., 24in., and 30in. diameter,
running about 55 meters from the
degas pit to the incinerator. They had
been installed with 10 tracing tubes on
the 20in. line and as many as 13 tubes
on the 30in. line.The tracing was generally located around the bottom of
the pipe in horizontal runs and on a
convenient side on vertical runs. The
analysis model showed that 13 tubes
was the very minimum that could be
used if they were spaced at equal intervals around the 30in. pipe.
Because they considered the six-

Better analytical tool

The more comprehensive analytical
tool provided by CSI models shows
how much heat is going into the pipe.
It measures how that heat is distributed by conduction along the pipe
wall, through the insulation, and by
convection, to the process itself. The
analysis uses the following data sets:
pipe size; wall thickness and material
properties; insulation thickness and
properties; worst-case ambient temperature; wind conditions; process gas
properties; and flow rates.
From all of these properties and flow
conditions, CSI was able to calculate a
heat transfer coefficient specific to the
Alberta plant.
By applying the model, plant management and CSI determined detailed
temperature profiles for various conditions. Variables included heating elements and their spacing, steam temperature, insulation thickness, and
flow conditions (from maximum
expected to zero flow). They deterJanuary . February 2001

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SULPHUR PROCESSING

Fig 3: ControTrace on an elbow.

mined the optimum number of elements and their placement so that pipe
wall temperatures would prevent
process condensation.
Plant management then conducted
a material cost and installation
expense analysis specific to the Alberta
plant. It revealed that even though the
material cost for ControTrace was
higher than for tube tracing, the
installed cost was expected to be significantly less. Because the management of the Alberta plant expected
longer pipe lifetime with the
ControTrace system, both the performance and economic criteria were theoretically met. Management awarded
a contract to CSI for the necessary
thermal modelling/design and fabrication of the new bolt-on tracing system.
Installation was done by the plant and
plant contract personnel.

results in improved and more predictable performance. Not only does

the ControTrace system use fewer elements (tubes) than the traditional
round tubing, it is significantly more
mechanically stable.
The sulphur pipeline continued to
operate during the installation of the
ControTrace system. In spite of this,
the actual installation cost was less
than originally predicted. Most of the
installation was done from scaffolding,
although some of the bolt-on tracing
was shop mounted prior to pipe hanging. The ControTrace is supplied pre-

fabricated into rings and headered

panels. (See figure 2: photo for typical
straight run.)
During installation, the non-hardening heat transfer mastic was applied
to the trace surface. Then the individual panels and ring halves were bolted
together. It was necessary that the
panels and rings be pulled snugly
against the pipe and flanges. Meeting
this requirement was not difficult
because the ControTrace is very
rugged and can withstand large bolting pressures. The installation crew
said that the ControTrace product
was easier to install than tube tracing.
(See figures 3 and 4: two photos show
installations around an elbow and at
a pipe support.)
Following installation the system
was insulated. Insulating over the
ControTrace was no more difficult
than insulating pipe of similar size
with tube tracing. Trapping of the
steam system was based on plant
standards and steam loads taken
from the thermal modeling program.
Interconnection of steam between
individual components was done
with hard piping in accordance with
plant standards.
At startup, pipe wall temperatures
were checked with a surface pyrometer. Temperatures quickly came to
values in the expected range. Since
then, periodic pipe wall temperature
measurements have been made with
all values falling in the expected
S
range.

Effective heat transfer

ControTrace heating elements are
drawn from SA178 carbon steel into a
rectangular shape. One side is curved
to fit the outside contour of the pipe.
The ControTrace elements used on
the sulphur pipeline are nominally
25mm by 50mm. They are registered
in Canada with a pressure rating of
2380 kPag at 340C. Heat exchange
between the steam and the pipe is
greatly enhanced by the use of a thin
film of heat transfer mastic. This
January . February 2001

Fig 4: ControTrace at a pipe support.

Sulphur

No 272